


Winter Wonderland

by BeautyAndTheBeskar



Series: Band of Vode [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives Deserves Better, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Flying, Gen, Jetpacks, One Shot, There aren't many tags for this one, it's pretty self explanatory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:01:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29304684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeautyAndTheBeskar/pseuds/BeautyAndTheBeskar
Summary: Fives learns how to use a Mandalorian jetpack, and gets to slow down and enjoy the winter scenery.
Relationships: CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Band of Vode [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2074911
Kudos: 3





	Winter Wonderland

**Author's Note:**

> Just note that this takes place about a year or so after the Clone Wars in my AU where Palps was defeated. That means Fives lives and there's no Empire, so some of the (de-aged; you're welcome) clones, Fives being one of them, integrate into different Mando clans. This can be read as platonic or romantic if you're really, really reading between the lines, or if you've read my other fics.

“‘Ey, careful with that, huh?” Fives stumbles back a step when the Mandalorian in front of him yanks a strap just a bit too tight.

“Sorry for  _ not _ wanting you to free-fall to your death,” she rolls her eyes, shoving a black and green jetpack into Fives’ hands.

“You’re sure this armor fits me right? I don’t want to bite the dust while my chestplate goes on a joyride.” Fives gulps, willing himself not to show fear.

“You think I’d let anything happen to you?” Laan’i scoffs. 

“No, but you still haven’t taught me how to use this stuff.”

“Trial by fire.”

Fives laughs bitterly. “No no no no. Ok, I may be adaptable but I’m not figuring out how to use unfamiliar technology by jumping off a cliff.” He slashes the air with his hand, stepping back from the edge a bit.

“Not a cliff but whatever. I’ll go down first so I’ll be right by your side, okay? This is how we all learn to fly,” Laan’i says, crossing her arms nonchalantly.

“Can you at least tell me how it works?” Fives throws his hands down in exasperation.

“I already told you,” Laan’i drawls. “It propels you forward, your HUD controls thrust and rockets, your posture controls which way is forward. You’re facing down, you’re gonna go down; spin left you’ll go left.”

“So it’s a GAR issued jetpack?”

“Oi, this is the real deal, not some GAR issued piece of crap. Better fuel efficiency, faster response time, almost completely mechanical, plus it’s beskar. Nothing’s gonna hurt you from the back with this puppy as your shield.”

“Alright, alright. Let’s go-” Fives couldn’t finish his sentence before he saw a black and white blur, and felt the warmth of burning jet fuel. Then he jumped.

The Mandalorian HUD was quite a bit more minimal than his ARC one but thankfully most of the components were in the same area. Not that turning on night vision would help him get this thing on. The wind roared as the ground seemed to rise up faster with each second. He was looking everywhere, and then he saw it.  _ Sen’tra _ , jetpack. With one blink the sound of jets filled his helmet and Fives had to look to the sky to get the rest of his body- and the jetpack- to follow.

Once he was in the air, levelling out was just a matter of muscle memory, he slowed down and looked around, something he didn’t get to do in battle. Laan’i’s home planet really was nice. The snow covered trees seemed to glow in the moonlight, letting him see the occasional shatual prancing beside a luminescent stream. He’d never seen anything like it, water that lit up bright green, blue, and pink, just like the ribbons of light dancing above. The icicle covered roofs nearby contrasted the cool tones of the snowy forest with the warm glow of lanterns. Fives was so absorbed in the landscape he barely noticed the gentle nudge against his arm.

“Not bad. See, I knew you’d figure it out,” came Laan’i’s filtered voice. 

“Yeah,” Fives breathed, still looking around.

“You like the plankton?”

“What?”

“That’s what makes the water glow. Follow me, I want to show you something,” she said, using the hand signal for “down”.

Fives followed as she stalled the small engines, dropping silently towards a field of crops. She made another signal telling him to circle above, continuing her descent.

As she did a low pass through the field of grains, they lit up in the same array of colors as the water, so clearly Fives could see the outline of each grain as he flew closer. The crunching snow and pitter patter of beskar sliding through it was the only sound besides the steady roar of the jetpacks. After some zigzags through the plants, white Jaig eyes stared up from the ground and another hand signal told Fives to land. 

“Before you ask,” Laan’i said, holding a hand up to Five’s helmet, “the stream directly irrigates the ne’ral so if you shake them enough, they glow.”

Well thanks for shaking things up for me,” he laughs. “Where do I drop off the jetpack?”

“Nowhere, it’s yours.”

“Mine? But I- I didn’t - I didn’t make it.”

“You’re part of the clan now, and you earned the beskar yourself. Consider the metalwork a gift from me, and the tech a gift from my family.”

“Aww, all that for me,” Fives teased, taking his helmet off to show his osik-eating grin.

“No no no no- Agh!” Laan’i received a crushing bear hug from the clone despite her protests. 

When they parted, he asked, “Refuel and do it again?”

“You know it! Race you to the station!”

“Oh, you’re on!”

**Author's Note:**

> So what did y'all think? :D I was inspired by all the snow we've been getting where I live and also learning about the bioluminescent plankton a few years ago lol. It was nice getting to write Fives's reaction to a still somewhat unfamiliar world. It's also always fun to write the banter between him and Laan'i. Would you like to see more unconnected one shots in my Band of Vode series? Thanks for reading! Have a great day or night~


End file.
